These were the 23rd and 24th peaks towards my NH 4000 foot list. Coincidentally this was also the last hike I will be able to do this summer. Putting me at exactly halfway towards the completion of the list. Not bad for one summer. Started hiking around 9:00 am, made it up to the Lake in about 30 minutes, from there about 45 minutes to Kinsman Pond, and from there about a half hour up over North Kinsman to South Kinsman. 4:00 round trip overall. Nice way to end the summer. Unfortunately it was cloudy for the hike with the summits completely immersed just cleared up as I got off the mountain, as if to taunt me that I was done for the year.

Hiked from Franconia Notch Saturday night in the dark with headlamps to the AMC Lonesome Lake Hut and spent the night. Hit the trail at daybreak Sunday morning, the Fishin Jimmy trail is getting Icy. some of the ascent of the trail would have been easier with traction, but we opted to leave the crampons off. past Kinsman junction, there was light snow, total on the ground was 4-5 inches of powder. some ice, used crampons for sections to make the going easier, but could have been done without. low clouds and the light snow weather conditions made for no views from the summit, although there were no winds and the hike was a good one.

Hiked up to the Kinsman Pond shelter via the Fishin' Jimmy trail and spent a frigid first night there...it seemed unseasonably cold for November but we survived. The next day dawned bright and beautiful, and warmer for our attempts at North and South Kinsman. The summits are quite close to the shelter, .8 to North Kinsman and 1.7 to South. We had a leisurely hike to both summits, enjoying fantastic views along the way. The views of Franconia ridge are spectacular from North Kinsman, and South Kinsman's dome like summit offers 360 degree views. We hiked back to the shelter the same way we came, which is really the only option here. The second night was much warmer and we had a fine day for the hike out, with more great views of Franconia ridge from Lonesome lake.

Parked at Lafayette Campground. Walked (nervously at first) over the spectacularly frozen Lonesome Lake, and proceeded up the Fishin' Jimmy Trail. We'd planned to stop for lunch at the Kinsman Pond shelter, which turned out to be largely swamped with snowdrifts and provided no shelter whatsoever from the biting cold or the bitter wind. We set up the stove on the bank of the pond instead, in order to benefit from the sunlight. Somebody had brought a can of condensed soup but no pot to cook it in. We tried to heat it directly in the can, succeeding only in creating a nauseating, slimy, cold but half-burnt mess which nobody even considered swallowing. Frozen Clif bars to the rescue!

After tagging the North Kinsman summit, we took the Ridge Trail over the Cannon Balls, a real roller coaster ride made fun but strenuous by three feet of virgin powder (the other trails had been fairly well trampled, especially the A.T.). Swimming uphill and then skiing downhill (the crampon-like metal prongs on our snowshoes proving no impediment). Repeat. Repeat. So tired by the end that we just wanted to lie down in a snowdrift and stay there.

Most-valued piece of equipment: a small flask of rhum proved a valuable weapon against the biting cold on North Kinsman.